Canadian Solar announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, completed the sale of the Maplewood 1 and Maplewood 2 solar projects to a U.S. annuity and life insurance company. Both projects are located in Pecos County, Texas, near the towns of Fort Stockton and McCamey, and have a combined capacity of 328 MW (250 MW (AC)). Both the projects are currently under construction and are expected to reach commercial operation before the end of Q3 2021. The Maplewood projects’ off-takers are Anheuser-Busch and Energy Transfer Partners. Anheuser-Busch will purchase the 222 MW (AC) from the Maplewood 1 project under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA), Maplewood 2 will deliver 28 MW (AC) of clean power to Energy Transfer Partners under a 15-year PPA.
EDP Renewables, an independent renewable energy producer, has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Onex Renewables to sell a 100% equity stake in a 221 MW wind portfolio located in Portugal for an estimated enterprise value of €532 million (~$627 million). The transaction comprises five wind projects, with an average age of 1.4 years as of 2021, out of which three are in operation, and two are under construction with the expected commercial operation until 2021. The five wind projects will be managed upon completion by Exus Management Partners.
Cubico Sustainable Investments (Cubico), a global investor in renewable energy, has completed the acquisition of Aoliki Panachaikou, the owner of two operational onshore wind projects in Greece, from Enora. The wind projects have a combined capacity of 48.5 MW and are located in the Panachaiko mountains. Enora and its sister company Enteka Services, will continue to manage the sites. Cubico was supported by Katatzas and Partners (legal), Natural Power (technical), Marsh (insurance), and Grant Thornton (financial and model audit).
The Galician renewables producer Greenalia signed the acquisition of a renewable energy generation company, plans to develop 670 MW of solar PV, all in the ready-to-build phase, and begin construction over the next year. To the commissioning of these solar MWs, the company will add another 170 MW of battery storage.
Longroad Energy, a renewable energy developer, owner, and operator completed term financing for Sun Streams 2, its 200 MW solar project located in Maricopa County, Arizona. Longroad owns 100% of the project after acquiring it in early 2021 from First Solar, the original developer. CIBC was the coordinating lead arranger, collateral agent, and issuing bank. Silicon Valley Bank served as coordinating lead arranger and administrative agent. Helaba participated. PNC Bank was the sole tax equity investor. The project was built by McCarthy, and the trackers were supplied by Nextracker, and SMA supplied inverters.
Vienna-based renewable energy company Enery Development has acquired a 71 MW portfolio of operational solar projects in the Czech Republic from funds managed by Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Equity Partners. The Energy 21 portfolio comprises 36 solar photovoltaic projects, many of them located in the Moravia and Bohemia regions. The acquisition was finalized for an undisclosed price. Enery will merge the Energy 21 portfolio with its existing solar PV capacity in the Czech Republic, which comes at 21 MW across six solar projects. Following the acquisition, Enery now owns 45 solar PV projects in operation in CEE.
Highfield Solar, a joint venture between ib vogt, Highfield Energy and Aura Power, reached financial close on a €160 million (~$188.5 million) debt financing for two solar PV projects in Ireland. The lenders for the projects are Cooperatieve Rabobank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), and Norddeutsche Landesbank (NORD/LB), providing one-third of the senior debt each, consisting of a blend of KFW and commercial loans. The Rosspile solar PV project (141 MW) will be located in the Wexford County, Gillinstown solar PV project with the same capacity in Meath County.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a multilateral development bank, announced that it had approved a $50 million loan facility to Italy-based Enel Green Power to develop a 300 MW solar project in Rajasthan. The Beijing-based bank said that the project is being developed in Bikaner, Rajasthan, and is expected to be commissioned in December 2022. The company has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India for energy offtake from the project.
EDP Renewables, a renewable energy producer, has reached agreements to acquire a 544 MW wind and solar portfolio in the UK. The transaction has been reached through two separate agreements with the renewable energy companies Vento Ludens and Wind2 for a total consideration of up to GBP 71 million (~$97.5 million). The portfolio consists of a 5 MW operating wind project commissioned in 2012 with a 20-year feed-in tariff, 192 MW of wind projects under advanced stage of development, aiming to enter in operation until 2025. It also consists of 347 MW of projects under development, including 229 MW of wind and 118 MW of solar.
Avangrid Renewables and Primergy Solar have confirmed a sale agreement that will advance 600 MW of solar plus storage projects in Nevada. The portfolio includes the 355 MW Hot Pot array paired with 280 MW battery storage and the 250 MW Iron Point project with 200 MW of storage. Under the agreement, Avangrid Renewables will perform development services for the projects, while Primergy will oversee the projects’ detailed design, procurement, financing, construction, and ultimately entering into commercial operation. The projects are expected to become operational in 2023 and 2024.
Solar PV developer Power Capital Renewable Energy (PCRE) has acquired a majority interest in 400 MW solar portfolio in Ireland from Terra Solar. The development of the portfolio will be carried out in close partnership with Terra Solar and local stakeholders. Construction of the projects, which are mainly in Wexford and Cork, will begin in 2022, with the first plants expected to become operational by the middle of 2023.
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